McHenry Market Pulse

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

TOYS FOR TOTS; SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY; HAPPY THANKSGIVING;

HELP MAKE A CHILD’S HOLIDAY BRIGHTER BY DONATING TO TOYS FOR TOTS!!!

Put a smile on a child’s face by donating to Toys for Tots! In partnership with Sunrise Rotary, the City is serving as a collection site for new, unwrapped toys appropriate for children, newborn through 12 years of age. Toys must be in original package. A donation box is in the Municipal Center lobby until December 14. The most needed toys are for newborns through age 2 and children ages 10-12. Thank you for being so generous with the various organizations we support throughout the year! Thank you in advance for your generosity! We certainly appreciate it!

GET READY SET…..SHOP LOCAL (#SHOPSMALL)!!! HOLIDAY SEASON 2017 IS IN FULL SWING!!!! SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2017

Over the next several weeks, many will be out enjoying family and friends as the Holiday Season commences. Further, a lot of shopping will occur over the next several weeks, and this is a time as a community we can really support local businesses.

NOVEMBER 25, 2017 IS SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY.

Small Business Saturday is between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It was first promoted nationally in 2010 and is a trademark of American Express (#shopsmall). You can visit the following site to learn more about the evolution of Small Business Saturday and how communities have embraced this as an opportunity to promote their local businesses: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/.

Although Small Business Saturday, #shopsmall, is marketed as a retail opportunity it’s important to remember retail is but one component of a vibrant and diverse economy. Please don't forget about service, manufacturing, healthcare and the various subsets of all these sectors which makeup a vibrant diverse healthy economy!

Resolution passed by the McHenry City Council Designating November 25, 2017 as Small Business Saturday in the City of McHenry

Douglas P. Martin

Director of Economic Development

City of McHenry

333 S Green Street

McHenry, IL 60050

815.363.2110 (d)

815.363.2173 (f)

815.790.4752 (c)

@mchmarketpulse

Friday, November 17, 2017

POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA; MCHENRY EVENTS; I LOVE MCHENRY; #MCHENRYMATTERS

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is a double-edged sword. That being said at the City of McHenry we are trying to accentuate the positive but cannot do this without your assistance. If you see something on social media which is negative, particularly if it is inaccurate-don’t add to it. In fact, change the topic, alter the conversation, accentuate the positive. Is there negative? Of course? Is everything perfect? No. However, power is in numbers so the more people who counter the negative with something positive the better off everyone will be. A couple of suggestions: A Facebook Page called I Love McHenry was started as one way to promote the positive. Additionally, utilizing the hashtag #mchenrymatters is another way to promote the positive activities in our community. Thank you for your assistance!

MCHENRY EVENTS

There are many exciting events this time of year and its often these events which bring a community closer together and I would really encourage you to participate in one or more of these if you have the opportunity. Community events, holiday activities and helping others often brings a community closer together and following are a few suggestions:

· 30^th Annual McHenry Downtown Christmas Walk

12:30 to 6 p.m. Nov. 18, Downtown McHenry

· Binny’s Beverage Depot Wine Tour

1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Nov 18, 4610 W Elm Street

· Tree Lighting Ceremony

5:30 p.m. Nov. 18, Veterans Park

· 11^th Annual Shop with a Cop

6:00 p.m. to Midnight Nov. 18, McHenry VFW

· Toys for Tots Parade

1:00 p.m. Nov. 19

· McHenry County Holiday Fest

November 19 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. D’Andrea Banquets & Conference Center in Crystal Lake

Douglas P. Martin

Director of Economic Development

City of McHenry

333 S Green Street

McHenry, IL 60050

815.363.2110 (d)

815.363.2173 (f)

815.790.4752 (c)

@mchmarketpulse

Sunday, August 20, 2017

CITY OF MCHENRY RECOGNIZES BUSINESS COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP IN SAFETY TOWN PROJECT

McHenry, IL August 2017 – The City of McHenry spearheaded a public-private partnership to construct a Safety Town on the Municipal Center Campus adjacent to the McHenry Zone Skate Park.

10,000 square-foot existing concrete slab adjacent to McHenry Zone Skate Park, surrounded by a fence and unused for several years; concrete needed to cleaned and prepped; measured and laid out so a miniature City could be constructed; work completed by Mayor Jett and multiple City Departments

This project would not have been possible without the assistance and collaboration of multiple City departments and the business community http://www.nwherald.com/2017/05/19/volunteers-build-safety-town-in-mchenry/aqzxrrw/.

Mayor Wayne Jett addresses volunteers on work day at Downtown Maintenance and Parks and Recreation Facility on Green Street; 25 managers from CVS Pharmacy from all over the State of Illinois traveled to assist in this work day to construct the actual Safety Town Buildings; Multiple volunteers from The Home Depot also participated in the work day coordinating the construction of the structures as well as donating materials and supplies to build numerous buildings (each costing about $1,000)

Mayor Wayne Jett, as well as multiple City Departments assisted throughout the work day, rotating employees so regular duties could be handled and the structures could be built and completed in a timely manner

Mayor Wayne Jett participated in every aspect of the project

On Monday August 21, 2017, at the McHenry City Council meeting, 333 S. Green Street at 7:00 p.m., Mayor Wayne Jett and the McHenry City Council will recognize volunteers and contributors from our business community for making this project become a reality.

This project would not have been made possible without the assistance of all the volunteers, including the business community and City Departments: Special thanks to Ross Polerecky, Community Development Director, who assisted in the design and construction and working closely with The Home Depot and Behr in prepping the site, designing the structures, coordinating the logistics of delivering the materials and enlisting his department to participate in the work day; Pat Gorniak, Superintendent of Parks and Downtown Maintenance who worked closely with Ross and the Parks and Recreation Department and his crews in getting the site prepped in a timely manner, working around the weather challenges; adjusting to a last minute change in work day venue due to rain and getting a lot of work done in a short time period including meeting his day to day obligations and management pertaining to his City responsibilities; Cindy Witt-Recreation Coordinator who coordinated the involvement of the businesses; organizing and planning the program and the educational aspect; Matt LaPorte-Recreation Center Manager who oversaw the management of the project and opened the doors of the Recreation Center to CVS on the work day so they could hold their managers' meeting following the completion of the work day; Mayor Wayne Jett, Derik Morefield-City Administrator and Bill Hobson-Deputy City Administrator and Director of Parks and Recreation who led by example and participating when they had time and entrusting their staff to complete a quality project the community would be proud of!

The following companies will be recognized for their participation: CVS Pharmacy; The Home Depot and Behr Paint, Jessup Manufacturing, Big R, Sherwin-Williams Paint Store, Jimmy Johns, Riverside Bake Shop, Dunkin Donuts, Sticker Dude and Traffic Control & Protection.

Mayor Wayne Jett working alongside Matt Zimmerman from the Parks and Recreation Department and Guy Smale and Ross Polerecky from the Department of Community and Economic Development

Ross Polerecky in foreground and Craig Lowery from The Home Depot in the background

Safety Town is a national program that focuses on teaching young children safe practices at home, school and within the community utilizing a miniature town. In conjunction with the physical representation of the Safety Town a curriculum consisting of a wide range of topics applicable to daily living such as: bicycle, pedestrian, school bus, fire, water, railroad, playground, pet and stranger-danger safety lessons is used to educate young people in a realistic setting.

A good time was had by all!

Craig Lowery and his colleague from The Home Depot

CVS managers completed the majority of the painting of the structures during the work day

The McHenry Parks & Recreation Department offered a one-week camp and several one-day clinics in June and July this past summer and is offering Saturday clinics in September and October 2017.

There was a lot of painting done but thanks to CVS it was completed very quickly

This is an ongoing effort with the ultimate goal to involve and engage as many members of our local residents, business community and service organizations as possible to prepare our children for the real-world challenges, which lie ahead!

Pond designed and installed by Jessup Manufacturing. Click on the following link to learn how Jessup utilized their manufacturing expertise to contribute to the City of Safety Town Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_UpiYSJvg0&index=6&list=PLjwept0Xwd_wT3BNxYQLBTB4EnAthw_IK

City of McHenry Safety Town with Pond completed by Jessup Manufacturing

City of McHenry Safety Town-Phase I completed!

Douglas P. Martin

Director of Economic Development

City of McHenry

333 S Green Street

McHenry, IL 60050

815.363.2110 (d)

815.363.2173 (f)

815.790.4752 (c)

@mchmarketpulse

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

FULL CIRCLE OPEN HOUSE TO PROVIDE ACCURATE INSIGHT ON PEARL STREET COMMONS PROJECT!

An open house will be held tonight for members of the community and anyone interested in a potential development at the northeast corner of Richmond Road and Pearl Street. The open house is an additional step being taken by the developer to answer questions, display renderings and conceptual plans regarding a proposed 25-dwelling unit project for people with physical and sensory impairments.

The developer, Full Circle Communities: http://www.fccommunities.org/ is collaborating with Over the Rainbow http://www.otrassn.org/ and TLS Veterans http://www.tlsveterans.org/ on the Project.

http://www.nwherald.com/2017/08/07/developer-to-host-open-house-for-mchenry-affordable-housing-project/afiaeql/t

Part of our job at the City is to monitor social media to ensure accurate information is being communicated and this was one of the primary reasons for commencing this blog. Recent statements about the proposed project, referenced above, on social media were simply untrue and erroneous.

People certainly have the right to say whatever they want and the City is not in the business of engaging in bantering on social media because it is not a productive use of our time or taxpayer dollars. However, in this particular instance some of the statements made on social media about this project were inaccurate and represented nothing more than sensationalized hyperbole. This does a disservice to the developer, project, property owner, and the public (people who read and may believe these comments), but most importantly our community.

Our job is to ensure everyone is provided a fair opportunity and afforded proper due process because projects such as the one proposed may be beneficial to our community. However if it is not given proper consideration this may not occur, and in the age of social media this is increasingly challenging.

This project will follow the normal course of action as every other project in the City does, which requires Planning and Zoning Commission review. The open house is an additional effort taken by the developer to provide an opportunity to review the plans and ask questions in a more informal setting.

Following the open house tonight, which anyone can attend, there will be a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission on August 16, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. at the City of McHenry Municipal Center, 333 S Green Street, McHenry, IL 60050. This meeting is also open to the public. The Planning and Zoning Commission is a recommending body, therefore the project will ultimately be approved, approved with conditions, or denied by the City Council at a meeting in early September, which is also open to the public.

There are numerous opportunities to offer comments on the project and ask questions but the bottom-line is to become informed before formulating an opinion or rendering judgment. Review the plans and staff report or you can do one or more of the following:

· Attend the open house tonight to learn more about the project, developers, potential impacts on the neighborhood and City;

· Contact me by phone, email or come in to review the plans and ask questions/talk about the project (all my contact information follows);

· Write a letter and send to the Municipal Center-write my name, Douglas Martin, on the envelope, and I can read your comments into the public record at the Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting, and I will also provide the letter to the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council. You can also place the letter in the drop box next to the U.S. Post Office Box at the Municipal Center-put my name on it and I will ensure it’s distributed;

· Contact any of the Planning and Zoning Commission and/or City Council members outside of the aforementioned formal meetings and offer comments;

· Come to the Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing and provide comments, statements, opinions, ask questions of myself, the developer and/or the Planning and Zoning Commission members;

· You can review the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council agendas and packets, which include all the plans and staff reports and will be posted at: http://www.ci.mchenry.il.us/index.asp?SEC=89B3F136-890D-4086-B78D-9FAA2B66ADCA&Type=B_BASIC

· Attend the City Council meeting and make a statement about the project.

We do not have an obligation to accept any project which may have adverse impacts and not be beneficial to the immediate neighborhood or City of McHenry. We do have the responsibility as a community to consider every project which comes forward - each application filed must be reviewed. It does not need to be approved, altered or even enhanced, however spreading untrue information inherently taints this process!

Douglas P. Martin

Director of Economic Development

City of McHenry

333 S Green Street

McHenry, IL 60050

815.363.2110 (d)

815.363.2173 (f)

815.790.4752 (c)

@mchmarketpulse